Concerns over the safety of workers at Thorpe Park have surfaced as the park confirmed some employees are returning to "critical roles" on site.

Thorpe Park say they hope to reopen in March should it be permitted by the authorities, but with maintenance work required on a number of facilities at the park, are asking "individuals working in critical roles" to work on site despite the coronavirus pandemic.

A worker at the park who said they were employed as an engineer and wished to remain anonymous told the Surrey Comet they feared for their own safety and that of their colleagues and others regarding the risk of coronavirus transmission for staff at the park.

"The audacity for them to ask us to come and do maintenance work and potentially mingle like this...

"They say they operate in a Covid-secure manner, but hospitals operate in a Covid-secure manner and doctors and nurses get sick and ill from Covid," the worker, who said they were asked to return to work earlier this month, said.

"There is no 100 per cent safe, you can catch the virus.

"They are ramping up and preparing the park for a March opening. They are asking us to basically remove every nut and bolt of all the rides and refit them.

"That's a lot of work but is that essential during coronavirus?" The Thorpe Park employee added, questioning the park's reasoning for asking some employees to work on site.

On their website, Thorpe Park say they aim to reopen to the public on March 27, though that is subject to Government guidance in response to the state of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Surrey Comet approached Thorpe Park regarding their policy on asking some workers to return despite the ongoing lockdown and high Covid cases numbers in the UK at present.

In a statement sent in reply, a spokesperson said:

"In accordance with UK Government guidelines, which permits continued on site working for those ‘who cannot effectively conduct their work from home’, we are only allowing individuals working in critical roles within facilities maintenance, security and engineering departments, who cannot carry out their duties from home, to work on site at Thorpe Park Resort.

"All other employees are either working from home or have been furloughed or flexi furloughed.

"Our top priority is always the safety of our staff and our guests. Our rides and attractions require crucial maintenance works to be carried out each and every winter in order to ensure the park is ready for the advertised season and this remains the case currently.

"Like many other businesses, our annual winter maintenance projects are essential in ensuring that the park is safe and ready to be re-opened when it’s deemed possible by the Government.

"We have robust health and safety measures in place at Thorpe Park and across Merlin’s portfolio of attractions to protect our employees. In addition, we have worked closely with our local authority contacts throughout the pandemic to ensure legal compliance at all times.

"The same working practices currently happening on site were also permitted by the Government during the previous Lockdowns in 2020 and all roles were successfully and safely carried out at Thorpe Park during the period of the Resort’s temporary closure."

It remains unclear whether the park's insistence on the need for critical roles to work on site at present, and their provision of a Covid-secure environment, will assuage the fears of infection.

"I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about the other employees who work there. I'm worried about the wider public," the Thorpe Park engineer said.